[Coal Hill school playground]
(A short haired, dark-skinned man with a neatly trimmed short beard shouts in the playground.)
DANNY: Atten-shun. Look at you lot. I've never seen such a miserable bunch. What are you, children?
FLEMING: Yes, sir.
(Danny and Ronald and his troop are wearing matching t-shirts.)
DANNY: You think you're funny, Fleming?
FLEMING: Yes, sir.
Ronald : All right, me too.
(The school bell rings.)
DANNY: Dismissed.
(The members of the Coal Hill Cadet Corps run off to the school building.)
BOY: What you doing, Fleming?
(Clara smiles at Danny and Isabella smiles at Ronald and follows the children inside.)
[Secretary's office]
(A little later, Danny enters, now dressed in shirt and tie, to check the timetable on the notice board for any changes.)
SECRETARY: So, Mister Pink, Mister Weasley did you have a good weekend?
Ronald : Yeah, I did, thanks.
SECRETARY: Yeah, I'll bet you did. What did you get up to?
DANNY: Er, you know. A bit of reading.
SECRETARY: Oh, I bet you were reading.
Ronald : I was, yeah.
SECRETARY: Yeah, I bet you were.
DANNY: Well, yeah, I was.
SECRETARY: I know your type.
(A schoolgirl is listening at the public counter.)
COURTNEY: She wishes.
SECRETARY: Be quiet, you.
[Maths classroom]
DANNY: So that's all the questions on page 32, except the last one, and then everything on page 33. All that in for Thursday. Any questions?
FLEMING: Sir? Have you ever killed a man?
(Groans from the rest of the class.)
Ronald : I was a soldier. There were other soldiers and some of them weren't on our side. I shall leave the rest to your imagination. And, please, think of another question?
FLEMING: Okay. Have you ever killed anyone who wasn't a soldier?
DANNY: Just to repeat, that's all the questions on page 32, except the last one, and then everything on page 33. All that in for Thursday. Is everyone clear?
CLASS: Yes, sir.
(The class watch a lone tear roll down Danny's and Ronald's cheek.)
[Staff room]
(The staff are putting on their coats to leave. Isabella is discussing timetables with the headmaster.)
Isabella : Fine, I'll take that class and then, they can do some of the test.
ARMITAGE: I know. Oh, Isabella , you've not met Ronald Weasley yet? New fella, maths. Ronald ? Isabella Pond.
Isabella : Hey.
ARMITAGE: English.
Ronald : Hey, nice to meet you.
Isabella : You too.
ARMITAGE: Want to watch yourself around him. Bit of a lady-killer, but always denies it.
Ronald : I am not a lady-killer.
ARMITAGE: See what I mean? Oh, Beth, can I have a word?
BETH [OC]: Yeah, yeah, sure.
Isabella : Er, was it you that I saw outside doing the soldiery thing?
Ronald : Ah yeah, probably. The Coal Hill Cadets. Just a bit of fun.
Isabella : What, teaching them how to shoot people?
Ronald : There's a bit more to modern soldiering than just shooting people. I like to think there's a moral dimension.
Isabella : Ah, you shoot people then cry about it afterwards?
Ronald : Ah.
Isabella : Something wrong?
Ronald : Nothing, no. Sorry, no, nothing. I just. I didn't think they'd say anything, that's all.
Isabella : Sorry?
Ronald : Have they told everyone?
Isabella : No, no, no. As far as I know, nobody has told anybody anything. What are you talking about?
Ronald : Why did you just say the crying thing?
Isabella : I was being funny.
Ronald : Why?
Isabella : I just do that.
Ronald : Why?
Isabella : I don't know.
Ronald : Anyway I, er, I've left some stuff in my class.
Isabella : Okay, see you.
Ronald : See you.
Isabella : Er, are you going to the, er, leaving thing tonight for Cathy?
Ronald : Um.
[Maths classroom]
Ronald : Yeah. I wasn't going, but I am now, because you're going to be there, and suddenly it seems like the best idea ever.
[Staff room]
Ronald : No, I'm not.
Isabella : Oh, okay, never mind.
Ronald : Good night.
Isabella : Change your mind.
Ronald : Excuse me?
Isabella : I'm going. Er, I'll give you a lift. Why not?
[Maths classroom]
Ronald : Actually, now that you mention it, seems like the best plan ever. Thank you.
[Staff room]
Ronald : No, I've got some reading.
Isabella : Ah, okay. Maybe some other time, then?
[Maths classroom]
Ronald : Thank you!
(He bangs his forehead on his desk.)
Isabella : Ahem. Is the wooden sound you or or the desk?
Ronald : How long have you been there?
Isabella : Longer than you would like.
Ronald : Okay.
Isabella : Are you going to look that terrified when you take me out for a drink?
Ronald : I, I absolutely promise I won't.
Isabella : Play your cards right and you might.
[Supply cupboard]
(Clara and Isabella enters, and nearly walks into the tray of coffees that the Doctor is holding out to her. The Tardis just fits the width of the back of the cupboard.)
Isabella : Where the hell have you been?
DOCTOR: You sent me for coffee.
CLARA: Three weeks ago. In Glasgow.
DOCTOR: Three weeks, that's a long time.
Isabella : In Glasgow. That's dead in a ditch.
DOCTOR: It's not my fault, I got distracted.
CLARA: By what?
DOCTOR: You can always find something. Come on.
YOU ARE READING
The Story of an Idiot with a Box (Series 8) Doctor Who
ActionThe series is the first to star Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which appears to be a British police box on the outside. It also stars Jenna Coleman Zoë Lewis as his companio...
